One team from Glasgow got tanned in Leipzig while the real top Scottish professional team, the Champions of Scotland got tanned in sunny Dubai, I can guess which set of players enjoyed the experience the best.

It was an eventual weekend for Sevco and their supporters, ingratiating themselves to their German hosts by singing about German Bombers being shot down, not forgetting the flight attendants who also got to sample their idea of enjoying themselves, if it doesn’t involve abusing someone, then it doesn’t count as enjoyment.

Contrast that to the open training day Celtic hosted in Dubai. After watching the team being put through their paces by Brendan and his staff, the Dubai Hoops and their families mingled openly with the players having pictures taken and getting autographs, a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and not a downed plane in sight.

Toiletgate has yet to reach a conclusion as far as Sevco are concerned, although Peter Lawwell seems to be happy with the solution. One person not happy is Keith Jackson, there are actually a lot of people unhappy, but that’s normal for them when they are not trampling over the rest of society.

The bold Jackson claimed that Celtic broke a longstanding agreement that the home team paid for any damages caused by visiting fans. What longstanding agreement would that be then Keith? If my memory serves me well, I believe Moonbeams Murray put an extra £1/£2 on our tickets to cover any broken seats, so we were paying for them anyway, even if there were no breakages, and I can honestly say the only damage I have ever saw was to some seats.

Although the team playing out of Govan are relatively new to Scottish Football, the people who follow them are not. They have a long history of causing damage to Celtic Park. They also have a long history of intimidating the young people who work in the food outlets, and other areas of Celtic Park.

I think there is more to come with this one, I believe it will be one of the first items on the agenda at the Supporters Forum scheduled for February. As I’ve said previously if I never shared a stadium with Sevco and their fans again I’d be very happy.

Anyway back to the football, it will be great to get back to seeing the Mighty Glasgow Celtic again, I’m looking forward to Sunday against Albion Rovers, hopefully we will progress to the next round of the Scottish Cup, I wonder whether it will be Aberdeen or Hearts we are drawn away to.

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The Celtic Supporters Association

The Celtic Supporters Association was the idea of Willie Fanning whose dream became a reality back in September 1944.

These were dark days on and off the pitch with the Second World War still raging and in comparison to those horrors rather more trivialy Celtic were not providing much joy to its supporters and defeat was a regular experience. Indeed the idea of a supporters association came to 27-year-old Willie while watching the Bhoys get thrashed 6-2 at Hamilton.

Willie decided to write to the Daily Record calling on fellow Celtic fans interested in establishing a supporters club to get in touch. A total of 14 people replied. Consequently a meeting was arranged at St Mark's and St Paul's Hall, Chester Street in Shettleston. The meeting proved to be a success - a provisional committee was installed and Willie was elected as President.

By the time of the second meeting at the A.O.H. Hall in Alexandria Parade in Townhead the word had spread. The hall was packed and car loads of supporters from across Glasgow and beyond eager to attend created a traffic jam along the parade.

A constitution was drawn up which allowed the new organosation to become an amalgamation of supporters clubs. Within 12 months membership had rocketed to 700 and the association had won the official endorsement of Celtic FC who handed over the responsibility of distributing match tickets to affiliated branches of the CSA.

The CSA remains a strong and influential body. Apart from following Celtic in massive numbers it has a social club in Glasgow and its annual Supporters Rally is a highlight in the Celtic calendar.

True to the traditions of Celtic FC the CSA also has a proud and continued ethos of raising funds for charity.